


Family Secrets

by BrennaCeDria



Series: The Hero, The Champion, The Revolutionary [25]
Category: Dragon Age
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-02
Updated: 2013-04-02
Packaged: 2017-12-07 07:12:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/745747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrennaCeDria/pseuds/BrennaCeDria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The missing queen of Ferelden pays a surprise visit to the leader of the mage rebellion.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Family Secrets

“What do you want?”

Elissa sat at the edge of a bench and turned from the meager fire as the elf woman glared at her. She was as short as most of the elves back home, which surprised Elissa, with dark hair chopped short around her face. Without thinking, Elissa found herself looking for familiarities in those features. A bit of the brow, perhaps? No, not there. _The eyes_ , she thought, finally recognizing the shade. _A bit darker than his, perhaps, but no less rich._

“Until recently,” Elissa began, “I always found it odd that the _Grand Enchanter of the Circles of Thedas_ would refuse so many invitations to visit the court of most mage-friendly royal house outside the Imperium.” Standing, she brushed at the seat of her armor out of habit, more like she was smoothing out fabric than brushing off dust or dirt.

The elf’s eyes narrowed suspiciously as she watched Elissa come from around the bench to approach her. “My position required much of me, your majesty, as I’m sure your position required much of you. There simply was never time to spare for a trip to Denerim.”

“You should have still come to visit, Fiona,” Elissa chided. “I assume we can just use each other’s names, can’t we? Titles become cumbersome after a while, and neither of us are actually _functioning within our titles_ at this point.”

“As you wish.”

“I most certainly do wish,” the younger woman smiled at the turn of phrase and studied the other’s face again. Other than the eye color there were almost no similarities at all; it seemed that the tales of human-elf half breeds being born wholly human were true after all.

“You still should have taken Alistair and I up on the invitations, though,” she stated finally, and a bit distantly. “For political reasons if nothing else; we could have stood with you.”

Fiona sighed wearily, sitting finally by the fire as Elissa followed and retook her original seat. “And what reason would there be to visit, if not for political reasons?”

“To meet your son.” The elf-woman’s eyes flashed, and Elissa held up both hands to prevent her interrupting. “We figured out a few years ago that his mother wasn’t some serving girl from Redcliffe, but he still doesn’t know it’s you. You could have come on official business and met him without him ever knowing if you chose such.”

“Then how do you know, _Lady_ Elissa?”

“Coincidence, actually,” she admitted. “You remember the Architect, don’t you? I was in Weisshaupt recently, finally being chastised for taking the creature as an ally when I encountered it under Amaranthine. While awaiting the First Warden’s judgment, I decided to see what the archives said about the beast. Anders—rather, _the_ Anders, not the man I recruited in Amaranthine—are notoriously thorough record keepers. One tome—just one, mind you—speaks of a female elf within the Order who gave birth some months after taking part in the expedition where the Architect was first encountered. Every mention of the woman’s name was destroyed, though.”

Fiona frowned. “If every mention of the name was destroyed, how did you…?”

“Duncan.” Smiling sadly, Elissa kicked at a pebble in the hard dirt floor. “I only knew him a week or so, and he couldn’t tell me a lot about _anything_ before my Joining. But since I already knew about King Maric disappearing for a few months with a group of Grey Wardens some time after the queen’s death, he indulged me with an abridged version of the story while we travelled to Ostagar. It helped to keep my mind off other events at the time. He mentioned you, and the others.”

“Then a few years ago, a few months before I left Denerim, all these rumors were swirling about this new Grand Enchanter who had once been a Grey Warden. Half the court asked us about you, of course, but for lack of a better term Alistair and I had both retired. We didn’t know any more than anyone else, and you never accepted the invitations we sent. As I said, I used to think it odd. I didn’t really suspect anything until finding that tome in Weisshaupt, though, and didn’t know for certain until seeing you here.”

“And what do you intend to do, now that you know this? You’ll send word back to my son, I assume?”

Laughing bitterly, Elissa shook her head. “Only three people know both who I am _and_ that I’m alive. Well, four now, including yourself. And I’ve been very careful that even when they’re able to contact me, no one knows how to _find_ me. My husband, and our entire nation, thinks I left for my Calling years ago, just before the explosion in Kirkwall. So no, I won’t be sending word to anyone about you.”

Fiona’s answering sigh was obvious, though whether it was of relief or not Elissa couldn’t say. Both women remained silent for a while, watching the fire die down, before Fiona eventually spoke up again. “What I don’t understand, is if you didn’t come here to expose me as your mother in law, why did you come?”

Elissa startled momentarily, and then laughed. “I guess you are at that, aren’t you? I came to ask a favor, actually. One of my Wardens… well, not _my_ Wardens, I guess, since I’d already turned over command of Vigil’s Keep before she arrived there… but an old friend who eventually became a Grey Warden has a cousin who could use your help. She’s not only Circle trained, but Harrowed as well, and she’s been an apostate since the Blight. The girl’s supposed to be brilliant, but extremely rash. We were hoping you could find her and focus her energies on something a bit safer than antagonizing drunken templars in the eastern Marches.”

“You realize I’m leading a war against the templars,” the elf stated pointedly. “Even if I can find this girl, why wouldn’t I keep her fighting them for the cause?”

Elissa grinned. “Well, now that I know who you are, I can call it a favor for family, can’t I? But even if you weren’t, why would you sacrifice someone so valuable?”

“What makes her _so valuable_?”

“She can change her face, Fiona. I was told that’s how she’s remained free for almost ten years now. I don’t know a lot about what can and can’t be done with magic, but the only other person I’ve known to do that was a Witch of the Wilds. You should be finding this girl and teaching her enough self-control that she can help free other mages without putting herself or them in even more danger. Or is this war less about improving the lives of mages and more about rebellion for rebellion’s own sake?”

Fiona glared at Elissa for a few long moments. “Fine, let’s say I agree to find and help this girl. If she changes her face, how am I supposed to find her? The eastern Marches is a large area to search.”

“Start with her cousin in Amaranthine, Bethany Hawke. Beth’s the one that asked me to come to you for help, and she’s the only one Vrania has been known to contact.”

“ _Bethany Hawke_ , sister of the Champion of Kirkwall? This girl is _their_ cousin?”

“You know, I believe I _do_ remember Bethany mentioning her older sister in that context once or twice,” Elissa replied casually. “And now that I think of it, Beth also mentioned that one of Vrania’s favorite ‘costumes’ by sheer coincidence could pass as Ria Hawke’s own twin. I don’t know if she’s still using that face or not, now that the Champion is a fugitive herself, but it’s something to keep an eye out for.”

“I can’t make any promises, but I’ll do what I can to find this Vrania,” Fiona finally agreed. “Though if she chooses to fight I’ll not stop her.”

Elissa frowned. “Try and turn her away from that, except as a last resort,” she warned. “I promised Bethany I’d come to you for help, not to give you a martyr.”

Nodding to indicate she understood, Fiona indicated the darkness outside the ruined window. “Shall I make arrangements for you for tonight, _your majesty_?”

“No, I wouldn’t want to impose on your hospitality.” Standing again, she collected her packs and checked all her gear. “As I said, I promised Bethany I’d ask the favor, and I had some curiosities of my own I wanted to investigate. I’ve done both now, and I see no reason to stay. Though I may come back around, when time permits. To say I’m curious how you’ve managed to escape our death sentence would be an understatement.”


End file.
